00:00My focus was on the Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers game
00:05because that outcome dictated whether the Capitals would have a sweat tonight
00:10against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but the Flyers prevailed in a shootout.
00:16They take down the Carolina Hurricanes.
00:18They secure the two points that Joe B. was talking about on yesterday's show.
00:22So now tonight's game against the Blue Jackets means nothing for either team
00:27other than the fact that it could potentially be Alex Ovechkin's last game
00:31in a Capitals sweater if he decides not to come back.
00:35Do you think the result of last night plays into his decision?
00:40No, I don't think it matters whatsoever to him.
00:44I don't think so either.
00:45I think he just needs to take some time away from the game,
00:47huddle with his family, his advisors, with the team, and come to a decision.
00:52Sucks to miss the playoffs, though.
00:54It does. It's not great.
00:55Do you want to miss the playoffs in your last season?
00:57Problem is, if he comes back next year, they can miss the playoffs again.
01:00I mean, there's no guarantee that they would miss, but sure.
01:02I mean, there's always that chance.
01:04Is that a possibility?
01:05I don't know.
01:06When they showed that video of him and Malkin and the Protus brothers
01:09and the little kids playing hockey in the house,
01:11I mean, this guy's whole life is hockey.
01:13It's just hard to imagine him walking away,
01:18especially the way the evidence is coming out.
01:20You know, just the uncertainty and, you know,
01:24waving off the handshakes and everything.
01:26I think he's coming back.
01:27And I've done a 180 on it.
01:30Complete 180.
01:31It's unfortunate that they missed the playoffs.
01:34Grant Paulson had a tweet about the whole way that they come up with points
01:38in the NHL that, you know, you get your full two points for a win,
01:41even if you win in a shootout.
01:43And you look at the Penguins, for example.
01:47They only have 41 wins on the season,
01:49but they're locked in as the two seed
01:51because they were better in overtimes and shootouts.
01:55The Caps have 42 wins.
01:58One more win than the Penguins,
02:00but they're not going to be in the playoffs.
02:03Now, this is a wacky idea, but hear me out.
02:05Now, maybe at the next, like, rules committee meeting, whatever,
02:09this proposal should be on the table.
02:12All right.
02:12For a shootout win, you get one and a half points.
02:17I don't hate it.
02:17Instead of a full two points.
02:19I don't hate it.
02:19It's not like winning a regulation game.
02:22You're winning via a gimmick that's designed
02:25to not have an overtime that goes 20 minutes
02:29or a regular season game going into double or triple overtime,
02:32which the NHL definitely doesn't want.
02:34Now, you do get a point for the overtime loss.
02:37That's correct.
02:38So you get a point for those overtime losses.
02:40Yep.
02:41But it's just a wacky.
02:42Jason used to always say,
02:43let's just throw the overtime losses into losses,
02:45and then that's a more realistic look at a record.
02:48Yeah.
02:49But it's just, we all know it's a gimmick,
02:51the way they do overtime and the way they do shootouts.
02:53Right.
02:54Some teams get rewarded because they're better in those situations.
02:57The Caps are not good in shootouts.
03:01Maybe the Penguins are better.
03:02And clearly, last night, the Flyers came up big
03:05and got their two points because they were better in a shootout.
03:09I saw some Caps fan bitter because Carolina,
03:13apparently in the shootout, put out two defensemen.
03:14Right.
03:15Like, what does Carolina do when you rely on other teams?
03:17Carolina clinched already,
03:19and they were sitting like five or six of their regular players.
03:22So they weren't taking that game seriously.
03:24They don't need to do the Caps any solids or any favors.
03:27So here's the difference between the Flyers and Capitals.
03:31So the Flyers and Capitals both have 42 wins in 81 games.
03:36But the Flyers, 10-4 in shootouts.
03:41Capitals, 2-6.
03:43Right.
03:43I mean, it's been a thorn in their side the entire season.
03:46I feel like they've been bad at it for a few years.
03:49It's just not great in that situation.
03:50It sucks.
03:51If you want to change the rules, that's fine.
03:53But they've got to get better at shootouts.
03:55Could just go back to the old, and nobody would love it.
03:58Tie in the regular season.
04:00Just have ties.
04:01Maybe.
04:02I don't know.
04:03So you get your one point for tie, two points for win.
04:06Okay.
04:07And then that's it.
04:09I mean, I guess you could do that.
04:11Play one quick overtime session.
04:13If it doesn't result in a goal, it's a tie.
04:15If they had done that, my brain's barely firing.
04:17If they had done that, where would they stand?
04:22I'd like to see the math on that.
04:24Yeah, I'm not quite sure.
04:25So you take away all of the shootout wins and losses, and you just add it.
04:30Because the Flyers, for example, have 12 overtime losses.
04:34They have 10 shootout wins, four shootout losses.
04:37I mean, that's 16, 12, that's 28 games where they went into extra time.
04:43Whereas the Capitals have got nine overtime losses, six shootout losses, two shootout wins, two, six, eight, nine, 17.
04:53Like, it's not even.
04:54So I think the Flyers might still edge them out with the ties, but I'm not quite sure.
05:00I'd have to do, I'd have to check.
05:03You'd have to check all the teams.
05:04But I don't know.
05:05I thought Grant pointed out some good stuff.
05:06Like, point differential?
05:07If you just looked at goal differential, they were finished on the year plus 18.
05:13Flyers were plus five.
05:15Look, I'm not saying they're better than the Flyers.
05:18Look, they made their bed.
05:20They dug a hole.
05:21And probably the backbreaker was last week.
05:24And I didn't watch the game.
05:25I was just monitoring it when I was in California.
05:27But they got smashed 8-1 last week.
05:29Yeah, the Rangers game.
05:30In a must-win game.
05:31At Madison Square Garden.
05:32I know Carberry, you know, he took some slings and arrows for starting Chucky Lindgren in that game.
05:38But we had him on.
05:38He said, look, Chucky Lindgren wasn't the difference in an 8-1 game.
05:42We just weren't ready for that game.
05:44We came out flat.
05:46And, you know, we got crushed.
05:48So, I'm not going to blame it all on Chucky.
05:51I mean, Logan Thompson needed a rest at some point.
05:53So, it's unfortunate.
05:55You know, we're the sports junkies host of sports show.
05:58EB poo-pooed this.
05:59But, DC Sports didn't do us a favor this year.
06:02The Commanders flailed this year after getting to the NFC Championship game, which was a great run.
06:07The Nats and Wizards and Rebuilds.
06:10And the Caps, who are usually pretty reliable.
06:13You know, I think they've made the playoffs 16 times during Ovi's tenure here.
06:17Missed the playoffs.
06:19So, the big four don't make the playoffs.
06:22I just, I'm poo-pooing the idea that, I mean, we knew when they were sellers, this was the likely
06:29outcome.
06:30Give them credit for keeping it interesting.
06:32Yeah, but before the season, I think expectations are you made it to the second round last year that you'd
06:38be a playoff team.
06:38Yeah, sure.
06:39But I readjusted, saw they were okay, whatever.
06:42Wasn't working out.
06:43I don't know.
06:43For me, I've just been resigned to not being in the playoffs since they were traders at the deadline.
06:47Yeah, once they dealt Carlson in doubt, I was like, that's not a great sign for this current season.
06:52Well, we knew it.
06:53Cakes was bringing up those percentages all year.
06:55I'm just saying, big picture, it sucks.
06:58You have none of the big four teams in the playoffs.
07:01It's like lamenting something that happened two years ago.
07:03Like, I was resigned to it six weeks ago.
07:07Well, they still had a shot.
07:09Yeah, I think.
07:10I gave them credit.
07:11Last night, it was 2-2, and I'm like, I mean, I think Carolina was up too zippy to begin
07:16the game.
07:17And then it's 2-2, and I'm scoreboard watching as I'm walking the dog last night.
07:23I'm like, come on, Carolina.
07:24I can't believe I'm rooting for Carolina.
07:26Because had they pulled off a win, let's say, say they won 3-2, full sweat today.
07:32Full sweat.
07:32Sure.
07:33So, just kind of a downer.
07:35It would have been an exciting thing.
07:36I gave them credit.
07:36Again, I gave them credit for keeping it interesting and playing as well as they did down the stretch.
07:40They took it down to game 81.
07:42Yeah.
07:42For something, I think, a season that was lost two months ago.
07:46And they fought to the bitter end and almost pulled it off.
07:49All right, coming up on the show today on a Tuesday, we'll talk more caps in NHL with Greg Wyshynski,
07:54senior NHL writer at ESPN.
07:56He'll join us coming up at 825.
07:58Will Dawkins will put a bow on the Wizards season.
08:02The Wizards general manager is on the show at 845.
08:05And we'll talk NFL with Armando Salguero from OutKick.
08:10He'll join us coming up at 925.
08:13That's all coming up here on the Junks.
08:16Thanks.
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